DCAU #175: Bizarro's World

IN THIS ONE... Bizarro tries to remake Krypton on Earth.

CREDITS: Written by Robert Goodman; directed by Hiroyuki Aoyama.

REVIEW: By throwing different ideas dealing with the falsification theme that runs through Bizarro together, the makers of the show have crafted a very good episode that manages to elicit several key emotions. First, it's amusing in the way Bizarro stories have every right to be. His version of Krypto is all mouth, potentially terrifying, and yet fun and kind of sweet, in its way. His plan to recreate Krypton on Earth, then immediately destroy it is completely mad, kidnapping a doorman wearing a costume not unlike Jor-El's (cheeky!) in the process. Lois hiding behind Turpin in her final scene is cute, and of course, Turpin's reaction to all this insanity, "Naturally!" is pitch perfect.

It's also thrilling, because though Bizarro's shenanigans are theoretically silly, they're also incredibly dangerous. He's a misguided being with all of Superman's power who could essentially destroy the planet without really meaning it harm, and the way through his thick skull is by finding a logic by which he understands what he's doing. That conversation of course takes place over a missile flying towards Metropolis, a moment played for plenty of tension.

And it's even touching. This Bizarro is a sympathetic figure and we're happy to smile along as he discovers his Kryptonian heritage, tries to find some semblance of home, and happily plays with his pet and friends. Superman's final solution, completing his "story" by rocketing him to another world, a nearly empty one to which he can be protector, gives the character the happy ending he deserves.

IN THE COMICS: The episode combines various comics storylines, including one also called Bizarro's World in which Bizarro recreates a clumsy version of Metropolis inside a warehouse. Recreating Krypto is the Eradicator's purview (which has a connection to the Brainiac of the DCAU) as told in Day of the Krypton Man. Bizarro ends up on another world, much as he did in the Silver Age comics.